Magpies
by Citrus Newt
Summary: [fin]After the final battle, there is always one more battle to fight. And fighting is hard when your friends can't help you. Would you be willing to do anything to get them back? IK MS. T for safety And Inu's mouth.
1. Chapter 1 One for Sorrow

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Inuyasha, not friendship necklaces. And I'm not even sure if I own the storyline… I'm sure its been done before somewhere even if I haven't read it. 

I had this idea a while back. There's an old folk rhyme about magpies that I've always wanted to do something with then this story just sort of walked into my head in the middle of science. The chapter headings are the lines of the rhyme.

**One for Sorrow**

The battle had been hard.

The red-clothed hanyou lay on his side in the dirt, unaided, and uncaring. The miko, the time travelling girl from the future sat nearby, seemingly leaning against a tree. The monk sprawled feet away from his staff seemed to be sleeping deeply. And the demon slayer who had lost her family was lying on her giant boomerang.

The air was quiet save for the shouts of one little kitsune, wearing blue and white, with red hair.

"Mamma, Mamma, wake up," he cried desperately, tugging on the miko's hand.

Nothing.

"Ma…mamma, please," he started to cry.

From somewhere near the boomerang, a small cat-youkai crawled miserably forward, bleeding in several places.

"Kiara, please, help!" The kitsune ran from first one human, then the others, and lastly the hanyou. None stirred at his touch.

Yes, the battle had been hard.

The carcass of the hanyou Naraku lay defeated in a pool of blood, as did that of his final incarnation, the nameless monster.

But the victors lay equally still, unmoving.

Maybe the battle had been too hard.

Shippou tugged on Inuyasha's hand. The hanyou always knew what to do. He could surely get help, get healers, get someone…

Inuyasha's silver white head just rolled to one side as the child pulled. He was breathing, but wouldn't last long, Shippou decided – not with the dreadful injuries that he had received.

Kiara was nudging Sango's hand. She appeared to be having more luck – the teenager moaned slightly.

"Sango!" Shippou was over there in a flash, just in time to see her open her eyes and sit up.

"What… what happened?" she asked faintly.

"Sango! Please! Help!" The red-head was bobbing frantically up and down, too fast for Sango's fuzzy gaze to follow. The last thing she remembered was being hit, and hit hard, by a strange attack from a new youkai, then… darkness. She looked around.

Shippou was babbling something – something her aching head could not piece together. Kagome was sitting against a tree, Miroku was sleeping, as was Inuyasha. Wait… sleeping?

"Miroku! Inuyasha! Kagome! Wake up!" She forced her aching muscles to comply with her mind's demands and stood up, favouring her right leg.

"Sh…Shippou, go get Kaede." She said hoarsely, limping towards her fallen comrades.

"But…"

"Go, now!"

Sango knelt and checked Kagome, then Miroku, and finally Inuyasha for signs of life. After some hesitation, she also checked Naraku – just to be sure. Then, she sat down, and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do.

A lone magpie flew across the path, its harsh cry conveying eons of sorrow to Kaede and Shippou – the former riding the transformed kitsune- and the group of helpers moving swiftly behind them. Kaede, the elderly miko with one eye, looked uneasily at the still forms of the four teens with whose lives she had become entangled.

Kaede directed her team of willing helpers to pick up the four - for Sango had slipped into the soothing oblivion of unconsciousness once more – and take them to the village. No one touched the grisly mess that had once been feudal Japan's greatest menace and threat. Naraku could stay there and rot.

Sango grimaced and winced at the pain of her leg as she woke up, slowly taking stock of her surroundings.

She was in a small room, lying on a soft bed, her leg bandaged and her clothes changed to a simple kimono. The sky she could see was dark, so she must have been out for hours. She couldn't remember why she was there at that moment. For a split second she thought that she was back at her village, wounded, perhaps, by a some fight with a youkai. Then, it hit her.

The battle. The fires that had been Naraku's eyes, the claws that had slashed Inuyasha, the choking cry that had been Kagome's as she was slammed into the tree… Sango's breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes, forcing herself to breath calmly. However, that brought on more memories, flickering underneath her closed lids… Naraku's laughter as Miroku fell to the floor, wounded, Inuyasha disappearing into the flash of light…

"No!" She wanted to scream, to shout, but all that came out was a choked whisper.

Naraku looking at her… Kagome gasping… the pain of the attack… Miroku sinking to his knees, covered in blood…

Sango lurched to her feet. She had to talk to Kagome. The miko was the only one who could calm her down when she was like this, hit by the shock of battle. She swayed with the pain of her leg, then forced herself to hold still. And the pictures, though less than they had been, remained.

Sango's body longed for the cooling relief of sleep… to relax and not to worry. But her imagination, spinning and confused, was playing tricks on her, and she couldn't sleep knowing that her friends, the ones who had saved her life countless times before, were somewhere nearby. They had to be. Sango's tortured mind couldn't comprehend anything else.

The dark haired teen limped out of the door, and into the outside world.

The stars twinkled brightly in a velvet sky, reminiscent of fireflies. Lights glowed warmly in the distance, from villages – villages who Sango had protected her whole life. She breathed easier. There was the God tree, standing tall and strong in the darkness.

_Like a father._ The words came unbidden to Sango's head as she stumbled along.

There… that was Kaede's hut. The lights were still burning, so the miko must be awake, Sango reasoned. All she had to do was see if Kagome was awake, check to see her friends were all right…

The door lurched nearer the injured teen. Finally, she reached it.

_I'd better check at the window first, _she thought, suddenly. _Don't want to wake anyone up._

The room was quiet when Sango first looked in. She forced herself to stand straighter and look at the floor.

Yes, Kagome was there, and Miroku, the one she loved but would never admit this fact. Both were covered in blankets. Kagome's hand was bandaged. Of Inuyasha there was no trace.

"…know, it'll be hard for them both," Kaede was saying. Sango could faintly see Yuki, the healer from the next village.

Must've been bad… 

"But, what, how…"

"We must tell her."

Sango frowned.

"It'll be really hard for her to take this."

"Yes. But would you like to be left in the dark?"

Yuki seemed to hesitate. Then he bowed. "I've done all I can." He said, looking up suddenly. "You must finish the rites."

Sango felt the breath catch in her throat, for the second time that night. _Rites…?_

Kaede looked up too, and Sango was startled to see tears beading in her eyes. Then, Kaede gently moved their blankets up over her patients' heads.

_No! They'll suffocate! What are you doing?_

Kaede took a deep breath. Yuki stopped. "But how do you tell a girl that her friends are dead?"

Sango froze. It couldn't be true… just couldn't. The world seemed to spin with the shock, and she fell to her knees, gasping for breath.

The door-latch started clicking, and Sango suddenly thought of running. Yes. She must run and hide, until her friends came to find her, to tell her that everything was ok.

Sango never after knew how she got back to her hut, only that she came to her senses to find herself lying curled up on her bed, tears flowing from her raw, red eyes onto the saturated cloth she was lying on. She suddenly remembered her companions – though they were more than that, they were her family.

"_Happy Birthday, Sango!" The demon slayer looked up to see Kagome standing there carrying a small, brightly wrapped box._

"_What is it?" Sango asked confused._

"_It's a present, silly! Go on, open it. It's a tradition was have in my time."_

_Sango took it, and, with some trepidation, opened it. _

"_Oh!" A small silver charm had fallen out. Then another joined it on the floor. Sango picked them up, puzzled. Each was in the shape of a half a heart. One read "Friends" and the other read "Forever." Sango blinked._

"_What…?"_

"_I didn't know what to get you," Kagome explained. "But then I saw these… you give one to your best friend and wear the other."_

"_Here you go then!" Sango held the charm saying "Forever" on it to the surprised girl. _

"_Huh?" Kagome asked intelligently. _

"_Best Friends?" Sango asked, grinning,_

"_Forever." Kagome swung the charm around her neck._

Sango placed her hand over the charm that she wore. The action was painful. She just couldn't accept that Kagome was gone... that her best friend was gone, and that she never even got to say goodbye to her. Kagome had left her, and she was alone…

"_Lady Sango! My darling Sango!" Miroku smiled cheerfully as she walked back into camp. Inuyasha was up his tree, and Kagome was cooking. _

_Sango bit her lip. She had just visited her family's graves. _

"_Ah, Sango, don't cry!" The dark robed monk stood up ands walked over to her. He took her hand. _

"_There is nothing wrong with losing a loved one," he told her. "But you should not cry over it. If I knew that I had made someone cry by dying, then I would come back to make them smile!"_

_Sango frowned, trying to digest his words. _

"_Now, let us get back to more important matters." _

_Sango blushed as he drew nearer. _

"_Will you bear my children?"_

"_HENTAI!"_

Sango replayed the scene over and over in her head. _I would come back and make them smile…_Miroku, the monk that she had loved, and yet never said as much to, was not coming back to brighten her day. Was not coming back to stay her tears… the tears that kept flowing and flowing.

"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and you cry alone" 

Kagome had said that once. Now Sango truly understood.

She lay down and tried to calm the sobs that shook her aching body. But Kaede's words kept running through her mind, branding her far more effectively than any iron could.

"How do you tell a girl her friends are dead?" They seemed to echo in the corners of the room, filling the darkness, burning her as she closed her eyes.

"_They're dead" Inuyasha said bluntly, as a surprised Sango looked on, amazed at how unfeeling the hanyou could be sometimes._

"_They won't come back, no matter how hard I think of them."_

"_But, don't you miss them?"_

"_Hell, I did at first. Especially my mother. But I couldn't just give in. She wouldn't have liked it."_

"_And besides," added Shippou, from the fire's edge. "Mamma always said that if you remember someone, then you don't have to miss them, because they're always there with you!"_

Sango shot bolt upright. "They're gone…" she whispered.

That long, weary night was the hardest night of Sango's life. Lying there, consumed by grief and guilt, she couldn't sleep. The hours ticked away like years of torture as she waited for the rays of the pale sun to give her comfort. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't rest her mind. Kagome, Miroku and Inuyasha walked her dreams and her waking thoughts, memories that she didn't know she had.

And Kaede sat listlessly outside of her hut, away from the stench of death. Away from grief.

"How _do_ you tell a girl that her friends are dead?" she asked the dawn sun.

The lone magpie wailed in response.

Whatcha think?

… R 'n' R?… I need help to improve. Sorry it was so… whatever the word is… It was _meant_ to be _sad_…

_Please,_ don't flame me. Flames don't help anyone.


	2. Chapter 2 Two for Joy

Thank you so much for reviewing! Thanks firyfeline, you really cheered me up. (And I loved your fics too!)

Disclaimer: Uh… I own… nothing. Not Inuyasha, or any of the wonderful characters from the anime. Or necklaces… or … anything.

_One for sorrow_

**Two for Joy**

Sango shivered, looking out of the window at the dawn. It was strange, seeing the dawn without the others… it felt like a part of her was missing somehow.

_Probably is, _she thought bitterly. _I've lost my friends and my family. There's nothing dear to me left to take. Even my life seems… empty now._

Sango's storm of weeping and sorrow had passed with the night. She had to be strong for her friends… remember them…

She fingered her necklace.

The problem was that is was too damn _hard _not to break down and cry. But if she did that… then no one could comfort her.

"_Cry and you cry alone."_

>

Kaede walked slowly up to the hut, head bent in thought. She had swapped her normal clothes for those of mourning, and looked strangely foreboding on a summer's morning as she went.

Sango saw her coming, and her resolve wavered. She opened the door, letting loose a slight moan at the pain her leg was causing her. The miko saw the movement and girl and hesitated.

And Sango's strength failed.

"Oh! Kaede! They're gone! I never got to see them – and they died to save me! I never even got to say goodbye!"

Kaede blinked with surprise at the sobbing demon slayer who was clinging to her cloak.

"And… Shippou's lost his mother… and… Miroku never got to live without the Kazanna… and Inuyasha never got to say sorry to Kikyo… and…"

She broke off, sobbing.

Kaede felt her tears returning, and furiously blinked them away. _Miko's don't cry. Village priestesses don't weep. _She kept telling herself. Sango didn't notice.

"Sango…" The girl was beside herself, face pale and eyes red from weeping. She was shaking with tiredness, and looked as though she had only just come from the battle. Her leg was bleeding again, and her hair was a mess. And her hands…

_She's been wringing them till they've bled. _Thought Kaede, horrified. She hadn't meant for the girl to find out like this.

"Sango, calm down." The old priestess firmly took each of Sango's bleeding hands, trying to ignore the obvious pain in her large brown eyes as Kaede's one met them.

"I was going to tell you. But it looks like you know."

Sango's long brown hair fell in front of her eyes. Kaede couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Kagome… Kagome didn't make it through the night. She died almost as soon as we got here. So did Miroku. And Kiara died this morning." She said.

Sango bit her lip hard. _I mustn't cry… I mustn't cry… they wouldn't have wanted it… no!_

She couldn't stop her vision going blurry with the sparkling tears that started trickling down her cheeks.

"But… _you_ made it," the elderly miko continued. "So did Shippou, and Inuyasha."

Sango jerked her head up suddenly. She wasn't all alone! Inuyasha was alive! She furiously brushed the tears away.

"Where…?"

"He's in the small hut over there."

Sango nodded. She wouldn't let him die. She couldn't! Kagome and Miroku had died to save her… she didn't deserve that. Kiara, who she had known for so long, had helped her. She should've saved them. But she _could _help Inuyasha.

"Can I see him, please?"

Kaede nodded. "Yes. I thought that this might cheer you up slightly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find Shippou. He needs to know what's happened."

Sango started to hobble away, though her eyes filled with the tears again. _No! Shippou's lost his mother again. What'll he do?_

There is a strange kind of grief that comes only to a person after loosing loved ones. They feel that _they _should have died and the others should have lived. That they couldn't save them, that they weren't there for them at a time when _they_ were needed most. A grief that can't be spoken; that is carried secretly forever. Sango knew this.

Yet still she blamed herself.

Inuyasha lay inside the hut, feverish and weak. His torso was smothered in bandages, and one of his ears was too. But Sango had seen him like this before; she knew he would pull through. He always had.

_But so had Kagome and Miroku._

But the hanyou was not emitting the rattle of breath that meant he was near death, nor gasping for air. He was breathing strongly, if shallowly.

_Inuyasha's not down yet._

Outside, even as the lone magpie flew into the God tree, a second joined it. Sango could hear their cries as she tended to the silver haired boy's needs. Cries of hope.

>

Sango and Kaede tended Inuyasha for the best part of a week before he regained consciousness. Shippou had been moping around for all this time, and though Sango tried, she could not comfort him. It was like he had closed up.

_Like Inuyasha._

The hanyou in question lay on the pallet, pale, but his open eyes, golden and thoughtful, were clear and bright, not dim as they had been.

"What the hell happened?" He asked.

"You killed Naraku." Whispered Sango as Kaede took her leave.

_Better he hears it from her._

"Yeah… but why's that old hag treating me? Where's Kagome?"

"…"

"Well? Hurry up about it!"

Same old Inuyasha.

_He'll never forgive himself. Not for Kagome's death._

"Miroku didn't make it."

"Ah." Inuyasha looked down, his silver-whit bangs covering his eyes. "But Kagome…"

Sango couldn't speak. She could only look. And Inuyasha saw the answer in her eyes as he looked up.

"She… didn't, did she." It was a statement of fact. Not a question. But Sango shook her head anyway.

An expression came over Inuyasha's face that she had never seen before. But then, she'd forgotten that he'd lost before, too,

Betrayal flashed first. Then guilt, anger and sorrow all seemed to hit at once. The anger became prominent.

"Crap!" Sango worriedly looked around for the tetsusaiga as he punched the wall. There, on that table. She gave it a little nudge so it fell onto his leg. There.

"How… could… this… happen?" Inuyasha snarled as he sprung up and demolished the table in question with the sword, emphasising each word with a sword stroke.

"I should have been able to save them, dammit! I should've never let them come!"

_Ooops. Not quite what I had in mind._

Sango looked up at the boy and realised that his grief was every bit as strong as hers. But Inuyasha reacted in a different way. He took his sorrow and anger out on the nearest inanimate object.

_Kaede won't be happy._

"Inuyasha." The word was soft, but he stopped fighting with the remains of the wood and cloth and turned to look at the demon slayer, breathing heavily.

"If Kagome was here now, you know what she'd say?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.

"She'd say, "Sit." Then she'd tell you that what happened was not your fault, not her fault, but that bastard Naraku's fault, and that he's paying the ultimate price in hell right about now."

Inuyasha blinked.

"And if Miroku was here…" Sango forced her voice to be steady, "He'd be laughing at the both of us."

Inuyasha sunk down at the bed, for the first time realising how injured he was. Sango was right, he decided.

_Kagome would yell at me now if she were here. She'd tell me that grief is good but it shouldn't upset me – or some crap like that._

"I hope those fires in hell are _hot_." He said furiously. "Because that piece of… of… _shit _deserves them."

Shippou ran in, suddenly.

"Inuyasha! You're ok!"

The kitsune pounced on the hanyou with eagerness. "You made it! Kaede said you would! If mamma was here she'd be thrilled!"

"Kaede also said that you should not bother the poor boy." A voice said from the doorway. Kaede. "And I distinctly remember telling you to find me a large log, too."

"Okay!" And with that, he was gone. Kaede looked at Inuyasha. Then at the table. (or its remains.) Then back to Inuyasha.

"I see you are feeling better." And the boy knew she wasn't talking about the fever.

"Feh."

Kaede left.

Sometimes, sorrow brought you closer to the things that meant most to you. Inuyasha looked out of the window, and remembered.

"_Inuyasha!" the hanyou looked down from his tree to see Shippou prancing underneath him. "Play with me!"_

_Kagome looked up too. "Go on, Inuyasha."_

"_Fine. Get ready to run!"_

"_Whoa!" Sango and Miroku narrowly escaped being run over by a flash of red and silver._

"_He's eager." Sango observed, dropping her load of firewood._

"_He's afraid he'll get "sat" if he doesn't." Replied the monk as Shippou whizzed past._

"_Meow." Kiara rubbed against Kagome's leg._

There had been sad parts to his time with his friends, but there had been happy ones too. And he meant to remember every one.

Sango looked closely at the half-dog. _He's zoned out. I guess I'd better say my final bit._

"Inuyasha…" This was the part she had been dreading the most.

He turned.

"You'll need to give Kagome back to her mother."

He turned away.

Joy and sorrow so often went hand in hand.

And the magpies lifted their heads and cawed together.

>

>

Ok… second chappie up… whatcha think?

Please R 'n' R…

CN.


	3. Chapter 3 Three for a girl

Disclaimer: At the present time, all I own is my computer. Not Inuyasha, nor anything else.

_One for sorrow_

_Two for joy_

**Three for a girl**

The air was quiet. Not quiet with the heat of a summer's morning, though it was hot. Not quiet because the sun had only just risen, though it was early. Not that. It was quiet because of _her._ The sun was up and the sky was blue, but she moved through the shadows of the trees, leaving no traces of her passage behind her. Soon, she heard noises…

"Sango!" The small kitsune launched himself at the youkai exterminator as she headed to the stream to wash.

It had been two weeks since Sango's friends had died, and anyone looking at her now would not know she had lost someone.

Her brown hair was glossy and black once more, restored to its original glory. She wore her green and pink kimono, and carried Hiraikotsu, her large yellow weapon on her back.

However, there was no Kiara curling around her ankles this morning. The loss was in her eyes, not her body.

"Sango," the fox child persisted. "Inuyasha's being mean to me."

Sango looked steadily at him. He turned enormous green eyes on her in an unmistakeable attempt at looking pitiful.

"What did you do _this_ morning?" If there was one thing that Sango had learnt in the last two weeks, it was that Shippou tried something on the hanyou virtually every day. _I suppose he's only acting his age, _Sango thought, regarding his innocent pose, _but it's just not a good idea to tease Inuyasha at the best of times, let alone in the morning._

"Nothing much!" Shippou hesitated under the teen's steady gaze. "Well… he was sleeping on the edge of his tree…" he trailed off.

"And?" prompted Sango.

"I… gave him a nudge."

"Was that all?" Had Kagome gone through this every day? Sango knew that the kitsune was mischievous, but had always wisely kept her mouth shut during the conversations that Kagome and he had.

"Maybe a little more than a nudge, a push, say."

"…?"

"It wasn't _my_ fault he jumped and fell off the tree! Sango!" Sango tried to contain her laughter, but that was no good. Just picturing the hanyou's face was enough.

"Shippou!" She gasped out. "You're… not … meant… to…"

"But Kaede said to wake him up!"

Sango gave up and collapsed into helpless laughter. _It probably isn't that funny, _she thought as she sat down. _I guess I needed something to lighten the mood._

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Inuyasha appeared from the forest edge, wearing his red fire-rat haori and a cross expression.

"Sh…ippou… said….!" Sango gasped.

Inuyasha frowned at the little redhead. "Runt… I'm going to KILL you!" Shippou dashed in the other direction followed by a very angry hanyou.

Kaede watched the two whiz past. _Where do they get all their energy? _The old miko sighed as she watched the antics of the pair.

"Gotcha!"

"Inuyasha! Behave!"

"Com'ere!"

"Whaaaa!"

"Inuyasha, I'm warning you…"

_Thwack!_

"Thanks Sango!"

"Damn it…"

>

She moved softly and slowly through the trees and forest, drifting almost like a cloud.

_It's been so long since… I came here last._

Her red and white attire flowing behind her, the miko stood near a tree trunk and looked out at the village she used to call her own.

_I'm free to love… free to feel… yet I can't. I can't feel the memories that I had of here. I can't remember love… only hate. It's time I left this world once more._

Kikyo stared out at the grass, and the old woman sitting on it.

_My sister… I remember the sound of her voice, her face… but I can't… feel her presence in my heart. Is that because mine is gone from hers? Has she forgotten me?_

Inuyasha sped past, chasing the child called Shippou. They were followed by the youkai exterminator that Kagome, Kikyo's reincarnation, had called Sango.

_Something has happened here. They do not seem… right._

Unnoticed by even the hanyou, Kikyo slipped away into the shadows, a whisper from the breeze.

Behind her, a third magpie joined the other two in the God tree.

>

"Inuyasha." Kaede sat opposite the silver-haired teen, holding a bowl and chopsticks in her wrinkled hands. "I am sorry to bring this up, but someone needs to tell Kagome's mother that she is not coming back."

The hanyou blinked at her. "What?"

"Someone needs to tell…"

"I heard ya, idiot." Surprisingly, this did not affront Kaede.

"Then you understand…"

Inuyasha looked up to the sky. _Sure I understand_, he thought. _But how do I do that?_ The uncaring sky and clouds gave no reply. _I just go into the well: "Hey, Mrs Higurashi! How are you! Oh, and by the way, Kagome's..."_ He couldn't even _think_ it. And Mrs Higurashi would be so upset...

It sounded stupid even to him.

He fingered the jewel shards that had been taken from Naraku by Kaede. They were the final pieces to the puzzle, but he couldn't fit them. Only Kagome could do that. Not even Kaede was strong enough.

_I guess the Shikon no Tama will remain shattered._

Like his heart, though he didn't say that. No Kikyo, and no Kagome.

"If I go…" He jerked himself away from his thoughts. "_If_, mind, then what will I tell Mrs Higurashi? Even _I _can't say… even _I'm_ not that…"

_And admitting that Kagome is dead is admitting that I couldn't protect her. Like I couldn't protect Kikyo._

"I know," Kaede sighed. "But… you are the only one who can go through the well, and Mrs Higurashi has the right to know. Don't you think?"

"Yes." Inuyasha said in a low voice, unusually quiet. "Yes she does."

>

"Sango…"

The girl looked up from her book to see Shippou holding some paper.

"Yes?"

"Can I read that book with you?"

Sango shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Oh, thank you."

There was a pause, as Sango waited for Shippou to come over, and Shippou waited for Sango to say something. Then:

"Sango, will you teach me to read first?"

"…?"

"Excuse me."

Sango looked up startled. Standing over by the God tree was none other that Kikyo, the un-dead miko. A soft smile played on her pale face, and her dark eyes seemed warm somehow.

Realising that she was staring, Sango leapt to her feet. "Yes, Kikyo?"

The girl who had been dead for over fifty years stepped forwards. "I am sorry of your loss," she said, softly. "Miroku was truly a great man. And Kagome was, perhaps, my better half."

Sango gaped at her. _Kikyo actually said something nice about Kagome! There're surprises everywhere today!_

"I have come for Inuyasha." Kikyo looked Sango directly in the eye, and the youkai exterminator felt a chill run down her spine as living warmth met with cold death.

"I don't have long left in this world. I would talk to him."

_That _was what the miko was so happy about. Naraku was gone. So she was free. That was why her eyes were warm and friendly, like twin candles burning in the night. That was why she walked with more of a spring, if a drifting cloud could spring. And freedom meant that she could have what she had sought all these years. Love.

_A shame really. We have searched for years for the Shikon no Tama. Yet _that_ will never be whole. Maybe she should have her chance at being whole, though._

Sango stared at Kikyo as an idea came to her head. "Kikyo, could _you_ restore the Shikon jewel?"

The miko's smile twisted. "Death corrupts us all. I cannot."

Sango sighed. _I tried. _

"Inuyasha will be here very shortly. As soon as he smells you, I should imagine." Sango told the girl.

Shippou, who had remained quiet, clutching his paper, suddenly piped up. "You're going to take him with you, aren't you."

Kikyo looked away. "I…"

"Kikyo."

The miko with the long black hair turned her gaze to the hanyou who looked at her with longing.

As the two moved closer, Shippou jumped onto Sango's shoulder, and the youkai exterminator started walking away.

"Sango…" The hanyou turned towards her with a strange look of sadness in his golden orbs. Sango had always been fascinated with them since she had first met the little group of travellers.

"Inuyasha, you _can_ go." Kikyo looked at the teen with an unreadable expression. Sango suppressed a shudder. _The dead should stay dead. Or come alive. Not half way._ Aloud, she added "No one will blame you for holding to your oath."

Kikyo tugged at the boy's red sleeve. "Come. We must talk."

Inuyasha nodded slightly, then turned, and started walking with Kikyo. Away from Sango.

_I guess it's just Shippou and me from now on. Inuyasha'll go with his girl, and I hope he'll be happy._

"Inuyasha," Sango said softly to his retreating form. He made no move. "Goodbye." One of his ears twitched. But he didn't look back.

_Good. He has no regrets about leaving._

Sango set off, back to the village, Shippou on her shoulder.

_Its strange, _the fox child mused. _I always used to thing that Sango and the others would feel bad about him leaving. I thought that they'd want him to stay. But Sango just let him go like… like…well, not like she didn't care, but like she didn't mind. That it was _his_ choice. I hope I can grow up to be as selfless as that. Mamma always was._

>

"So, Inuyasha has gone?"

"Yes. He left with Kikyo this morning."

The three of them, two humans and a youkai, sat around the fire, eating the last of the ramen Kagome had given Inuyasha. The stars shone brightly, and the moon was waning. Beyond the firelight, the long grass swished restlessly with the breezes, and further still the God tree stood like a sentinel, tall and silent in the night air. The fire crackled warmly, and Sango leant closer to it, shivering despite the heat.

_It is strange how death touches you. But it was Inuyasha's choice, to go with Kikyo. Not mine._

"Are you sad?" Kaede leant closer too.

"No." Sango looked up at the old miko, smiling. "Inuyasha will be much happier with Kikyo, even if that _is _in death."

"And he'll get to see mamma and Miroku and Kiara," pointed out Shippou.

The old miko smiled. "Very well. Now, Shippou, I think that it is probably time that you went to sleep."

"Awwww…. Kaede!" Shippou moaned loudly, causing the three magpies that had been roosting in the God tree to take wing, each one cawing loudly.

"No buts, Shippou," said Sango firmly. "Bed!"

_Motherhood is much harder than I thought!_

_>_

Third chapter done. Please r 'n' r. I'm kinda feeling unloved at the moment - and I'd really like to get better... so if you don't like it, tell me what's wrong with it!


	4. Chapter 4 Four for a Boy

Thank you Firyfeline… I believe that your question should be answered in this chapter…

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to me… pauses… Not! I own nothing at all.

_One for sorrow_

_Two for joy_

_Three for a girl_

**Four for a boy**

"Sango, child, would you go and get me some water from the well, please." The old miko was hunched over a cooking pot, stirring away at what could only be described as a delicious smell. Shippou sat in the God tree, probably missing the tricks he could be playing on Inuyasha.

_As long as he doesn't play any on me!_ Sango got up from where she had been sitting, leaning against a tree.

There had been few happenings the last two days. After Inuyasha had gone, Sango had basically moved in with Kaede, and so had Shippou. There had been one youkai attack – a weak wasp youkai had buzzed in to try to get the jewel shards – but Sango had dealt with it easily.

_It seems that the challenge has gone out of fighting._

The well water was cold and Sango poured a bucket over her own head before re-filling it and taking it to Kaede. Feeling refreshed, she sat down again, under the God tree, wondering what to do.

_I guess that we've spent so much time and effort trying to kill Naraku, I've forgotten what normal life is about._

Strange, really. She had always thought that she could live happily ever after, though the expression was cliché, after she had avenged her family.

_With Miroku._

"Sango," Shippou dropped down from the God tree and stared at the teen hopefully.

"Will you play ball with me?"

"Of course Shippou."

Soon the air was filled with happy shouts.

_Maybe this is how life is meant to be._

>

The sun shone hotly down as he dragged himself through the land. Though the grass was green and the sky was blue, he felt as though he was in the hottest of deserts, burning sun and scorching ground were the same to him as he crawled another few paces and collapsed.

A figure loomed over him as the darkness crept over him. A tall, imposing figure that did not seem human.

The last thing his brain registered was a voice saying strangely garbled words.

>

Sango strolled along the outside of the woods, looking for wood to burn on the fire. Though it was dark once more, she was not tired. The moon was now only a sliver of silver in the blanket that was the sky, and the stars twinkled bright as ever. The air was clear and seemed almost alive in the summer night, the breezes carrying messages from the sky and beyond. It was a good night to be out.

Sango smiled to herself as she bent down to pick up another piece of wood and add it to the armful of dead tree limbs that she was already carrying. Life was good just now, though she _did_ have a few regrets. At the present time, these were pushed to the back of her mind.

Behind her, there was a rustle. She turned quickly, but…

_Must've been my imagination._

Being a Taiija had its downfalls, sometimes. And one was that she was always tense.

She turned back to her piece of wood… to find that it wasn't there. Not that it was a few feet to the right, or a few feet to the left – _it_ _had vanished._

Sango was not one who would normally react to something strange. She was a female youkai exterminator, for crying out loud, and she had travelled with a lecher (who called himself a monk) a kitsune, a neko, a hanyou and a girl from five hundred years in the future. But _this_ was a new one. And Sango _did_ react, jumping forwards and sideways simultaneously, dropping the wood she had in her arms and snatching at a long tree branch to keep herself upright.

Afterwards, she was very glad she did.

Sango stood and gasped vainly for breath, watching the long thin katana that had hit the ground a second after she had left it. She calmed her thundering heart as she tried to assess the situation.

The one holding the sword was tall and dark. That was her first impression. He was cloaked and wore dark boots, but she could see glinting red eyes set in a harsh, pale face underneath a dark hood. Her attacker was not human.

"You carry the shards of the sacred jewel." It was not a question, merely a statement of fact, rasped out of a mouth that distorted the words. Nope. Not human.

"I do." Said Sango slowly, surreptitiously looking around for a weapon.

"Give them to me and you will not be hurt."

_Yeah right. Why did I even carry the blasted things with me anyway? And why did I leave the village without a weapon? Amy weapon would have done. But nooo…Aha!_

Sango did three things instantaneously. She jumped backwards, grabbed a long branch that vaguely resembled a staff and yelled her answer.

"Why! So you can kill innocent people with them?"

"Why you…!"

The battle had begun in earnest.

Sango whipped her makeshift weapon around her head, trying to remember everything that Miroku had taught her about staff combat.

"_Hold your weapon in both hands until the enemy attacks. Then pick a hand."_

Great. Everything had just sort of left her head.

_Don't panic. Rule number one. Don't loose it in a fight._

Each time Sango attacked with her staff the youkai countered. Each time she struck it was ready; each time it lunged she had to use all of her strength to stop it.

_This is insane!_

Sango was no longer fighting to kill the youkai, She was fighting for her life!

Suddenly, something Inuyasha once said came to her mind…

_Sitting round a fire, Sango and Miroku watched as Kagome tried her best to bandage the stubborn hanyou. Inuyasha, of course, was having none of it._

"_It's just a scratch! Sheesh wench! Don't baby me!"_

_Sango eyed the silver-haired boy reflectively. "Why did you do that anyhow?" she asked._

"_Do what?"_

"_When you could have countered with Tetsusaiga and made an opening, you flipped and came at the youkai from the back. Why?"_

"_Because," Inuyasha replied, "I don't fight like you'd expect; if I did, then I'd be dead by now. That youkai thought I was going to do that, which is why I came at him from behind."_

"_So basically, you made it up as you went along?" Kagome looked stunned._

"_Yep."_

"_You IDIOT!"_

Sango spun her staff in an attempt to ward off a blow.

_Go where he's not expecting. Make it up as I go along. I think I can do that._

Sango yelled her fiercest battle cry and jumped forwards, dodging the sword stroke. Then, rather that brain her attacker, as she would have preferred to have done, she grabbed his shoulders, pulled herself over them, kicking him in the face as she did so, and somersaulted onto her feet.

All of this took perhaps five seconds. By the time she had landed, the youkai, having lunged too far when he had reacted to her kick, was trying desperately to pull his katana out of a tree trunk.

_Thank you Inuyasha!_

Sango ran forwards to finish her enemy off. He, however, had other plans. Abandoning the katana, he fled into the forest, leaving Sango, her pile of wood and a tree with a large slash in it behind. Sighing, Sango retrieved the wood and the sword and continued about her task.

>

"There! That'll satisfy Kaede!" Sango stood up, clutching the latest addition to the large bundle of wood in her arms. Then…

_Swish… crack…_

Sango glanced around. _Crap! It's that youkai again! _

She dropped her wood for the second time that evening and yanked out her newly acquired weapon.

_Thwack!_

Sango spun around, hitting something in the face. It was not the youkai.

"Owch, idiot. What was that for?"

"I… Inuyasha!"

"Who'd you expect? That mangy wolf? The ghost of the old oak tree? Of course it's me!"

"I thought you'd gone with Kikyo!"

"Yeah… well…"

"…?"

"Aw hell, damn it. She… talked to me and… I… she gave me some time before I…"

_Wait… does that mean that Inuyasha's _not_ going with her? Or is he just going later? But why wait? There's nothing here for him…_

"Anyway. Got something for you."

Sango blinked. "What?"

"Hoi! Kid! Get over here!"

_Kid…?_

A boy with dark hair, eyes and brown clothes emerged from the undergrowth.

"Kohaku!" Sango's sudden tears left a sparkling trail behind her as she flung herself on her little brother, who started crying too.

"Told you you'd like it," Inuyasha remarked.

>

The fourth magpie flew in to join the other three as silently as the night breezes that Sango had been pondering earlier. The four of them watched the people below them, fluttering their wings slightly as they did so.

Sango was holding Kohaku as though she'd never let go as Kaede served up their meal. Inuyasha looked around. Honestly, nothing about this place ever changed. It seemed… timeless.

_That's probably an after-effect of being pinned to a tree for fifty years. There were bound to be some._

Inuyasha himself was sitting around the fire, trying to dodge questions from Shippou. The kitsune was prancing around, babbling non-stop. Inuyasha couldn't even understand what the runt was saying, let alone answer him.

"..andweallthoughtthatyou'dgonewithkikyotohellorheavenorwhereeveritwasshewasgoing,whichwasitanyway?and…"

Inuyasha shook his head. Sometimes that kid was more trouble than he was worth.

"So, Inuyasha." Kaede effectively silenced Shippou's babbling. "How long has my sister given you?"

Inuyasha looked up. "Don't know. But I don't have a lot of time to do what I came to do anyway."

"What's that?" Sango asked around a mouthful of rice.

"I…" Inuyasha eyed Shippou, and then abruptly changed the subject. "I found Kohaku and returned him to his sister. Ain't that enough?" he said callously.

Sango took the hint. "Kohaku, Shippou, come on, its late and you must be tired."

"I'm _not!_" Shippou wailed.

"I am." Kohaku gave Inuyasha a wink. Inuyasha slowly flicked his ear back at him.

_Good kid. He knows what I'm trying to do._

Ignoring Shippou's yells of protest, Kohaku firmly grabbed him by the hand and lead him to the hut that Kaede had set up when he had arrived.

"Now… what're you _really _here for?"

Inuyasha sighed.

_Should've figured they wouldn't be fooled._

"Kikyo gave me… an idea."

"Go on."

"Well…" Inuyasha paused, considering what to tell them.

_No need to tell them what she said before. I'll just say about her idea and leave it at that. _He decided.

"…_She still has a chance…" Inuyasha gazed at Kikyo in shock, barely taking in what she was saying. _

"_A… a chance?"_

"_A young boy has recently been restored to life. Surely another three souls could be as well?"_

_Inuyasha was shocked. Why is she doing this? He thought. _

"_Who… and how…?"_

"_His name," replied the girl with dead eyes, "was Kohaku. And I think you know how. Your brother, with his sword the Tensaiga."_

_Inuyasha gasped. Who'd have thought Sesshomaru had enough heart to do that?_

"_Give me your answer later… go now, you still have time. Their souls will remain on this earth until the new moon. You have until then."_

_But how long will your soul remain here? How long do you have left? What should I do?…_

"So you came back," said Sango slowly. "To try to save our comrades."

"Yup."

"But why not tell Shippou?"

"Didn't want to get his hopes up. We've got barely a week, and it's my brother we're dealing with here – likely as not he'll say no."

"Then why…?"

"It's a chance, isn't it?"

"But Inuyasha, you're risking loosing Kikyo to save Miroku and Kagome and Kiara."

"…"

"Why?"

Inuyasha didn't answer – he jumped into the tree – his tree – and leant down.

"Get some rest. You'll need it for the morning."

Sango left the fireside. As she went, Inuyasha heard her muttering.

"It's a good idea – I don't think it'll work." And from Kaede's retreating back came:

"It's a good thing we haven't yet buried them."

Inuyasha closed his eyes and lent back on his branch. He hadn't slept since he had left the village with Kikyo, two nights ago. He was tired; he wasn't ashamed to admit it to himself. But sleep eluded him still.

He remembered Sango's question. _"Why?"_ He knew why… he had chosen not to say. He thought back to his conversation with his first love.

"_Give me your answer later… go now, you still have time. Their souls will remain on this earth until the new moon. You have until then."_

_But how long will your soul remain here? How long do you have left? What should I do?…_

_Kikyo smiled at him, the same smile that she used to smile… the same one Kagome used…_

_Suddenly a memory came back to him._

"_If you could make one wish, what would it be?" Shippou paused in his eating, and looked at his family._

"_Uh…"_

"_Sango?" the kitsune asked, hopefully. _

"_I guess it would be to see my family again, get to say goodbye…say 'sorry'."_

"_What about you Miroku?"_

"_Oh, I would wish for my darling Sango here to bear me twenty children… Joke!" Miroku gulped as the youkai exterminator's eyes glowed. "I think that I'd wish to live without my curse.. maybe have a family."_

"_Yeah, that'd be mine too," Kagome decided. "To live a long and happy life, with the man I loved. Who could ask for more?"_

_"Inuyasha could!" Shippou exclaimed. "He'd… Gack!" Inuyasha thonked him on the head._

_Inuyasha's uncertainty vanished at that point. _

_Kagome wanted a full life… a happy life. And I can give that to her. No matter what, I'm gonna get my brother to bring her back. Her and Miroku and Kiara… he thought._

In the present, Inuyasha's eyes started drifting shut.

_No matter what it takes…_

The magpies seemed to smile.

>

>

Ok… that's my longest so far. Tell me what you think!

And I'm sorry about the fight scene if it was bad – but I don't do martial arts at all. The most I can do is hit someone with a book. (Though that can be useful sometimes!)


	5. Chapter 5 Five for Silver

I'm so sorry for the late update! They say troubles come in threes. I had school exams, (which I have literally been in tears over), English coursework and then, right when I had time to actually write, the stupid writer's block came along!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't be struggling with stupid exams and evil essays!

_One for sorrow,_

_Two for joy,_

_Three for a girl,_

_Four for a boy,_

**Five for silver.**

"Are you ready, Taija?" Inuyasha lounged in the God tree, trying to hide his impatience of starting. The summer heat was doing nothing to cool his temper, either.

"Almost." _Sheesh! What gives? Anyone would think that he wanted to see his brother – the one who tries to kill him every time they so much as look at each other._

"I'm ready." Kohaku appeared from behind his sister, wearing his youkai exterminating clothes and a determined look on his face.

"You are not going!" Inuyasha and Sango both shouted it at the same time.

"Yes I am."

"You are not. That's final!"

_Oh, that's Inuyasha. Tact all the way. _Sango tried to reason her brother out on this one.

"Why do you think that you are coming?"

"Because I've met Sesshomaru, and Rin, the little girl, when I was under Naraku's control."

"So?" Inuyasha wisely decided to stay quiet at this point.

"Sesshomaru would do anything for that little kid. Anything. She's met Kagome once - I think you said – and she'd ask to bring her back to life."

"And you have to come because…?"

"You'd scare her."

"_I'd _scare her? What about that damn brother of mine?" Inuyasha dropped to the ground in astonishment.

"He saved her life. She trusts him, and you've fought him…"

"Oh fine!" Inuyasha exploded. "You can come."

"Inuyasha," Sango glared at the hanyou.

"Look, I'll look after him. It's not like we're chasing Naraku or anything."

"…Ok."

"Yeah! I knew you'd see it my way!" Kohaku started walking forwards. "Come on!"

"Hey! _I'm _leading!"

Sango sighed. It was going to be a long journey.

>

Rin hummed a little tune to herself. The little girl was really happy today. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not to cold, and the fields were green and filled with flowers. She was picking purple dog violets whenever she could, and had amassed a large bunch. Then there was the fact that Jaken was gone to visit somewhere or other. It meant that she didn't have some annoying toad in her ear all the time. Jaken was fun to tease, but after a while, even the bright and bubbly girl needed a break.

Ah, there. Sesshomaru had stopped. Rin happily skipped over to her adopted guardian, picking a daisy en-route. The daisy she put behind her ear, pretending that she was a fairy princess in a fairy tale. As for the dog violets…

Sesshomaru stopped to sniff the air. Something smelt funny, and it wasn't a youkai either. A girl. Yes. But she had a strong taint of death about her. Maybe…

"Fluffy?" The cute human child standing besides his pelt jerked him out of his thoughts. The silver-haired inu-youkai sighed. Sometimes Rin really didn't get it. He was the greatest youkai in the western lands, of noble blood. Other youkai feared him. Humans cowered before him. Yet this little girl…

_I'm a sort of plaything._

It made a refreshing change though.

"Rin picked these for Sesshomaru!" The dog picked them out of Rin's hand with the greatest care. Yes. Dog violets. Rin defiantly had a sense of humour.

"They are beautiful, Rin." Her eyes lit up.

"Then Fluffy likes them?"

Why did she have to look so cute in that orange and yellow kimono? Sesshomaru hated violets… they had been Inuyasha's mother's favourite flowers. But he couldn't bear to hurt her either. Sighing, he tucked them inside his clothing.

"I do. Now, why don't you go play?"

"Ok!"

As Rin skipped off, the inu-youkai glared at the innocent flowers.

_Yuk… flowers stink!_

He would get rid of them as soon as he could. That was a promise. The lord of the western lands did not go around with the purple stars of nature peeking out of his clothes!

Now, what had he been thinking of?

As Rin started singing, he gave up. It couldn't have been important.

>

Kikyo breathed a sigh of relief as the dog turned away to his child-companion. She had been thinking of talking to him… but that seemed a bad idea now.

_I wish to see how Inuyasha fares._

Her first love, though she had never meant to be with him, had not had great persuasive powers. She had been hoping to get there ahead of him and reason with his brother.

Now, she was content to watch. She knew Inuyasha's decision. She could wait.

_It seems I am no longer a pawn but an observer. Let us see how this will turn out._

>

Kohaku pulled at his tight clothing, trying to allow some air to reach his hot body.

_I hate travelling._

Although the three had gotten off to a rocky start, Sango, Inuyasha and Kohaku had managed to agree on when and where they would halt for the night, a vast improvement from the last two nights, when the weary boy had had to endure yelling matches between his sister and the hanyou, the one fiery and short tempered, the other worried and stressed.

Now, Inuyasha lay in a tree apparently asleep and Sango lay against a different tree, defiantly asleep.

Kohaku looked up at the hanyou with wonder. He was not asleep, the boy could tell that much straight off. His ears were pricked and following every little sound and his breathing, while regular, was not that of a sleeper. Kohaku had had the fright of his life when he got up the previous night to add more wood to the fire and Inuyasha had sprung from the tree, hand on his sword. He would not make that mistake again. Evidently the silver-haired boy was tense.

Kohaku didn't blame him. He knew that his sister was missing the monk she had travelled with more than she would care to admit. What was his name now? Miroth? Miiku? Ah, Miroku. That was the one.

Personally, Kohaku thought that his sister could do a lot worse than him.

Then there was the absence of Kiara. The little neko that had always been with Sango was dead too, and though Kohaku knew that they were trying to save all those who had died, her absence still left that little void in his heart.

Shippou, of course, had wanted to know where they were going and it had been so hard to lie to the little kitsune. They couldn't let him get his hopes up, Inuyasha had been perfectly right.

"Still not asleep, kid?" Inuyasha opened an eye at the surprised boy.

"No. It's too hot."

Inuyasha snorted. "Try a tree. It's cooler up here."

Kohaku shrugged, then moved closer to his sister and closed his eyes.

Inuyasha looked down with unusually emotional eyes.

_I wish that we could get on like that, me and Sesshomaru. We used to when I was little. What changed?_

Inuyasha had no answer. The hanyou was so lost in thought that he failed to see the five magpies that sat in the tree opposite him, all watching intently. Up above, the moon looked on the silent scene.

If moons could think, then this one was probably quite confused. After all, it was perfectly cold in the sky.

>

Inuyasha, Sango and Kohaku were all on the road by the time the sun came up. The full moon was getting closer, and Inuyasha felt that he didn't have any time to waste. That same feeling was also with his companions as they walked due west. Sesshomaru was close, that much was evident to his nose. Just where…?

Sesshomaru carried Rin's sleeping form. He could smell his half-brother's scent, along with than of the Taija and her brother, the one he had brought back to life. They were near.

Inuyasha. That name… it brought shame to his family. A hanyou, the son of the Inu no Taisho? It was unthinkable. As a child, Sesshomaru had loved his little brother. As an adult…

_We are enemies._

It was painful in some respects. Sesshomaru could have cushioned some of the crushing blows that had been struck at his brother by being there. But Inuyasha wasn't there when _he _needed him either. No. He was stuck to a tree in status. Which was brilliant for a needy brother willing to change. Just fabulous.

Rin stirred slightly and Sesshomaru placed her on the ground and waited for her to wake up. She could get to him as no one else could.

_She's got me twisted around her little finger._

"It's morning?" She seemed confused.

"Yes. Now come on. We need to get moving."

"Ok."

Rin got up, stretched and smiled. "Rin is ready."

_She's always cheerful. Why? Even when I treat her…_

Inuyasha's scent was approaching rapidly, getting stronger. Sesshomaru braced himself, wondering what his little brother wanted.

Sure enough, Inuyasha appeared from the trees, followed by Sango and Kohaku. Rin appeared delighted.

"Rin's friend is back!" She flung herself at the surprised boy in a hug.

"Kohaku is back," he corrected.

"Rin's Kohaku!"

"I guess." Sango suppressed a giggle. Inuyasha looked at Sesshomaru.

"Why are you wearing violets?" he asked pointedly. Sesshomaru looked down.

From behind a tree, Kikyo winced.

_Great start._

"Rin picked them for Sesshomaru!" The little girl was apparently quite pleased with herself.

"They're very pretty Rin," smiled Sango.

"Brother, why have you come?" Sesshomaru decided to make this brief.

"I need something off you."

"No."

"What? He hasn't said anything yet!" Sango had had all her hopes building on this moment… Sesshomaru was going to hear them out!

"Rin wants to hear. Tell Rin."

_She's really cute. _Thought Sango with a smile. _And quite perceptive._

"Sorry, Rin. You can't help. Only my brother can." Inuyasha silently pleaded with the youkai to listen. It was his only chance.

"Very well. I will listen."

_Phew._ The thought was unanimous.

"You remember Naraku." Sesshomaru nodded, narrowing his eyes. "Good. I killed him."

"You?"

_How is that possible? If I couldn't, there is no way…?_

"Me and my friends. Sango, Kagome, Miroku, Shippou and Kiara." Sesshomaru nodded again, signalling Inuyasha to go on. "Three of them gave their lives in the battle."

Now that surprised Sesshomaru.

"So, you want me to give them back their lives." He summarised.

"Yes. We destroyed Naraku. You wanted him dead. Return the favour. Bring them back to life."

Sesshomaru regarded the three in front of him. The boy, biting his lip. The girl with her heart in her face and the hanyou with anxious eyes. Did those dead mean no much to them?

_Very well._

He opened his mouth.

"I will not go."

Sango gasped and Kohaku bowed his head. Inuyasha blinked.

"Unless…"

They lifted their heads up again.

Sesshomaru smirked.

Silver – known as the tears of the moon. The Chinese used it on lockets to protect their children, and it is known for healing.

I saw five magpies myself this morning… followed by another two which flew in. Hmmm…. Seven magpies.

Ok… please make someone happy and hit the review button!

CN.


	6. Chapter 6 Six for Gold

Thank you Firyfeline, for being so… fab! Come on the rest of you, please give some feedback, even if you hate it!

As for the late-ish update, I'm justified this time. I went to France on Friday – we left at midnight Friday/Thursday and got back midnight Saturday/Sunday. Ne?

Disclaimer: I don't own Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kiara, Kagome, Sesshomaru, Rin… in fact, I don't own any of the wonderful Inuyasha characters.

_One for sorrow_

_Two for joy_

_Three for a girl_

_Our for a boy_

_Five for silver_

**Six for gold**

_  
Very well._

He opened his mouth.

"I will not go."

Sango gasped and Kohaku bowed his head. Inuyasha blinked.

"Unless…"

They lifted their heads up again.

Sesshomaru smirked.

_This should be interesting._

"Unless you will do something for me."

Inuyasha felt his heart sink slowly into his stomach. _He wants tetsusaiga, doesn't he. But if I loose my sealing sword, even if he does help the others, I could just as easily kill them again… unless I go away, maybe with Kikyo? _

_Alright. I said that I would help them, no matter what it takes. _

_No matter what._

>

Sango looked at the floor again. She tried hard to stop the tears that were threatening to run down her pale face. Kohaku held his sister's hand tightly, aware of the battle she was fighting.

_I won't blame Inuyasha if he doesn't do what his brother asks. After all, they fight every time they see each other… it wouldn't surprise me at all if they never come to an agreement._

>

Kohaku merely looked at his sister worriedly.

_This means so much to her. Come on Inuyasha, don't let us down…_

"What do you want me to do?"

The reply was cold and curt, and Inuyasha held his head straight, even as Sango tried in vain to hide the gasp that escaped her.

Sesshomaru mentally smirked. This was going perfectly.

"I do not want your fang. Do not fear, little brother. I wish to kill you when you are in control of your mind, not a raging bloodlusting _thing_." Inuyasha chose not to respond to that one. "I have heard that there is a much better weapon. A dagger that never misses when thrown. Fetch me that and I will do as you bid."

Sango looked Inuyasha directly in the eye. _We'll never make it in time! _That gaze seemed to say. Inuyasha stared back and Sango understood. _You can't. I can._

"Where will I find this dagger of yours, Sesshomaru?"

"You will find it north. But it is a perilous region, filled with dangers. You would risk your life to save those who are dead?"

Inuyasha had no hesitation. "Yes."

He ran off in the general direction of north before he could change his mind.

Sango sucked in her cheeks, held her breath and counted to ten, trying to control the outburst that was threatening to explode anyway. When she released her breath, she felt calmer. A little.

"Why couldn't you give clearer directions?" She asked Sesshomaru angrily. "You must know that Inuyasha can't find your dagger _and _get back before the full moon."

"I could not give clearer directions," Sesshomaru glared at the girl and Kohaku shuffled behind her.

>

Kikyo let out the breath that she had been unconsciously holding. If there was one think that she had learnt from Inuyasha, it was that inu youkai were notoriously unpredictable, even for those that were close to them. She had suddenly realised what the youkai lord was doing.

>

"Why won't Sesshomaru help them?" Rin asked suddenly. "Rin liked Kagome and Shippou and Miroku and Kiara."

"Shippou's alright," Sango told the girl. "He's still alive."

"I could not give clearer directions," Sesshomaru was quite annoyed.

_Stupid humans, don't interrupt me!_

"I could not give clearer directions because that dagger does not exist."

Three shocked faces all stared at him. One smirked from behind a tree.

_Yup._

"Doesn't exist?" Kohaku forgot his fear at that point. His sister, and the hanyou who could have killed him but chose to save him, had been hoping and praying for Sesshomaru to help. And the stupid youkai had played a _joke _on them? Kohaku was having none of it.

"What do you mean doesn't exist? You have sent Inuyasha to seek an imaginary item!"

"My brother gives his heart to few. I wanted to see if these humans and the youkai were worth much to him."

"Why didn't you just ask him?"

"Have you not heard the phrase 'actions speak louder than words?' I would have restored them anyway, a debt is a debt, but I wanted to see just how much they meant to Inuyasha, how far he would go."

Sango found her voice. "You mean you'll do it?"

"I do not go back on my word."

"Yey!" Rin jumped up and down, and ran and hugged Kohaku. "Rin knew Sesshomaru was going to help!"

She produced a second bunch of flowers from inside her brightly coloured kimono.

"Thank you fluffy!" Sesshomaru blanched.

_Where'd she get them?_

"Excuse me, I need to go get my brother back." With that, he patted the girl's head (a very un-Sesshomaru-ish thing to do) took the flowers and sprung after his brother.

Sango chuckled. _He really doesn't like flowers, does he!_

>

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru appeared back at the small camp the humans had made around half an hour later. Neither seemed to be speaking to each other, though the tension in the air was a lot less than it could have been.

Sango and Kohaku sat together, and Rin curled herself up near the fire. The remains of lunch were still evident in a small pile nearby. The fire was not really necessary on such a summer's day, but the flames gave reassurance to the brother and sister.

Inuyasha was fuming with his brother. They had talked, and he understood his motives, but to be betrayed by family like that…

_What have I done to deserve that?_

Sesshomaru, meanwhile, was pleased that his test had been passed, and was gently shaking Rin to get her to wake up.

_How can she sleep at this hour?_

Inuyasha came up behind Sango and Kohaku, and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. He wasn't quite expecting their response though…

"Yaaaagh!" Sango had him on the floor in one fluid motion. Inuyasha found himself looking up at the youkai exterminator with a rather large bump on his head.

"Ooops," remarked Kohaku, the cause of the bump.

"Ooops! That doesn't cover it! Get here squirt, now!" Sango jumped backwards as Kohaku ran for his life around the clearing, crashing into Sesshomaru in the process.

"Inuyasha, I wasted valuable time bringing this human back to life. Please do not kill him again."

Rin sat up, finally awakened by the noise.

"Why is Kohaku being chased by Inuyasha?" she asked, confused, as the hanyou ran after the yelling boy.

"Don't ask, Rin." Sango sighed as her little brother was caught.

"Inuyasha!" She stood up. "Let go!"

"I think we should leave," Sesshomaru hastily imposed.

_These humans will ruin my reputation._

He did not mention the fact that they were also quite scary too.

>

The countryside seemed to fly by. What should have been large fields now appeared as small parts of a patchwork quilt, and the clouds seemed surprisingly close. The wind ruffled through Sango's hair and she stifled a yawn. It was so nice to have a breeze.

"Don't even think about going to sleep." Inuyasha turned his head. Sango almost jumped off his back with surprise.

_How does he do that without veering off course?_

This was one of the rare times that she rode Inuyasha – though one could hardly say 'rode', since he did all the work.

"This is too much fun to sleep." And she meant it. The exhilarating speed they were travelling at, beating even Sesshomaru, who was carrying Kohaku and Rin, made her feel alive and free. Her good spirits were not alone either. Inuyasha was also in a very good mood; he just hid it a lot better than Sango.

The reason? Sesshomaru was coming to Kaede's village to restore Kagome, Kiara and Miroku with the Tensaiga.

Inuyasha looked forwards again.

"Feh."

>

Sesshomaru looked over the still bodies of Kagome, Miroku and Kiara. Sango had tears streaming down her face once more. Though she knew that everything was going to be alright, she still couldn't stop them.

Kohaku stared in disbelief at the cold, lifeless shapes that had once been his sister's best friends, and the small furry lump that was Kiara.

Inuyasha did not look. He did not trust himself to speak.

"I can do this, but I have a little advice."

The three humans looked around (Rin was meeting Kaede.)

"They will remember none of this. It may be wise to leave it at that."

Shippou burst through the door. "Inuyasha! You jerk! You never told me!"

"I didn't want you to get hopeful," Inuyasha said, looking determinedly the other way. "He nearly said no as it was."

"But you got him here! Thank you Sesshomaru!" The little kitsune flung himself upon the surprised youkai.

_This one seems to be related to Rin. Must be a child thing._

Sesshomaru shook the fox off his shoulder, and Sango hastily picked him up before four casualties needed to be brought back to life.

Sesshomaru raised the Tensaiga.

_One, two, three._

As it was brought down in a sweeping arch, the sword left a dazzling light trail that all had to turn away from.

A gold light trail.

And outside, six magpies sung together on the God tree.

>

Meanwhile, Kikyo ran as fast as she could through the woods.

I need to get back so Inuyasha does not know I've gone! 

The dead miko continued to run, stumbling as she went. She could see the gold light and the six magpies from the path.

_Nearly there._

The light ceased.

>

>

To the Egyptians, gold signified immortality. It was the metal of the Gods.

>

Uh… some of that was a little OOC, I think. Mind, the situation is pretty OOC too I guess.

Please r 'n' r!

CN.

(one chapter left…)


	7. Chapter 7 Seven for a Secret

>gapes open mouthed at reviews> Four reviews? Thank you so much! Yey for Firyfeline, xoxsilver moonxox, Shiori Tachibana and powermeee! >Starts running around yelling and vanishes around corner>

And a belated Merry Xmas to everyone! (In case you haven't gathered, that's why I'm hyper.)

Disclaimer: If I owned anything besides the plot (I _think_ I own that, anyway) then I wouldn't have put Inuyasha on my Christmas list! (I didn't get him either.)

_>_

_One for sorrow,_

_Two for joy._

_Three for a girl,_

_Four for a boy._

_Five for silver,_

_Six for gold,_

And… 

**Seven for a secret never to be told.**

It was dark and warm. The world was spinning, though it might have been her. She couldn't hear, couldn't see. She drifted in the darkness, having no strength to fight the soothing calls. Silence engulfed her, and she closed her eyes.

Then the pain hit her.

Red hot lances tore at her soul, her body helpless against the relentless attack. She could feel the hard, cold floor underneath her and the rough woollen blanket that covered her. Her head swam and her thoughts drifted in and out of focus.

Voices surrounded her, and faces seemed to swim in and out of her vision with the voices. She knew that she should be able to put a name to them, but the names slid out of her grasp even as she tried to hear them.

"… thank you, Sess…"

"… Miroku and Kagome should be…"

"… Kiara knows what happened, don't…"

One belonged to a tall man with long silver hair, another to a girl with dark brown eyes and the other to an old woman with one eye.

She opened her eyes against her body's protests. She had to know where she was…

Intense gold met chocolate brown as a boy with dog ears held her gaze.

"Inu… Inuyasha…"

"Go to sleep, Kagome. Nothing'll come, I promise."

The soft darkness called to her, but she didn't answer as sleep took her.

>

The door closed with a gentle click, and Sango, Shippou, Kaede and Inuyasha all breathed a sigh of relief.

_He might be Inuyasha's brother, but he's still really scary. Although he did bring Mamma back to life. He can't be all that bad, then, I suppose._

The kitsune was sitting close to Kagome, next to Inuyasha. The hanyou was sitting with his eyes closed, idly playing with Kagome's hand. Sesshomaru had left, his deed done, but neither Miroku nor Kagome had woken up, a fact that troubled the hanyou slightly.

However, Kiara had given a loud 'meow,' stretched, and jumped into Sango's arms. It was like she knew what had happened.

_Probably did. Youkai senses are so much better than those pathetic human ones._

Kohaku was bonding with her outside, and Kaede was bandaging Miroku's hand. The kazanna had been formed by a thrust through the hand, and although the wind tunnel had vanished, the cut was still clear. It was amazing, really, that they had managed to kill Naraku. The evil hanyou had managed to kill Miroku's grandfather and father, and Sango's family, not to mention the others.

_Including Kikyo._

Sango, meanwhile, was waiting patiently for Miroku to open his eyes. She too was sitting by his side, hands in lap, eyes closed.

She suddenly felt a touch at her rear end. Without even thinking, she slapped the monk's face – hard – and snapped at him.

"Stupid hentai! Keep your hands to yourself."

Inuyasha and Shippou looked over, slightly surprised, to see Miroku with a large red handprint on his cheek and a fumming Sango standing above him. Kaede looked positively shocked – but then again, she had not had as much of the monk's lecherous nature as the others had.

Behind, unnoticed, Kagome sat up, taking in the scene that was unfolding.

_Figures. Miroku is such a leech._

She looked around, puzzled. _Okay… how did I get here? The last think I remember was Naraku, and now… _

Sango caught her eye. _I remember Sango was wounded; on the floor, yet now she looks totally fine. How long have I been out!_

"Ummm… Sango," Kaede held up Miroku's hand. "Could ye refrain from attacking him until after he is bandaged please."

_Okay… that's weirder. Sango, Inuyasha and Shippou are fine, but Kiara looks… battered and so does Miroku… and if I'm lying here then I have to be hurt somewhere. Strange though. I don't _feel _any pain anymore._

Kagome suddenly noticed the hand that Kaede was bandaging. _I guess Naraku's dead though… Miroku's lost his wind tunnel now._

"Hey… Inuyasha," The hanyou jumped when the miko placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sheesh wench! You're meant to be asleep."

"What's going on, why am I here?"

Inuyasha hesitated.

_Why do I make such a bad liar? _

"Ye remember nothing?" Kaede finished Miroku's hand. The monk in question hastily stood up, trying to find some excuse to go outside. In the end, he just walked out. No one noticed. Sango was too busy thinking of decent excuses.

Luckily, Kaede saved them all.

"That is only to be expected. The fever that you caught left you very weak."

"Fever?" Kagome winced. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you sorry for?" Inuyasha looked at her with some surprise.

"I… Huh?" Kagome replied intelligently. "How long have I been out?"

"Over a month." The elderly miko supplied as Sango, confused, looked around for Miroku.

_Where is he?_

The door knocked slightly with a summer breeze.

_Aha!_

Sango made her excuses and left. She did not expect what she found.

"Kikyo!"

The dead miko was panting slightly, and looked dishevelled.

_What's she been doing! Anyone would think that she had been running for hours!_

Little did she know the truth of that statement.

>

The occupants of the hut all heard her surprised cry and Kagome smiled at Inuyasha.

"Go on. Since Naraku's dead, you can go."

Inuyasha hesitated.

_Why is she always so selfless?_

"Go on!"

The hanyou grimaced, but he knew his decision was already made. Standing, he swiftly walked out of the room.

Kagome blinked back tears.

_Goodbye. You were the only one I could ever love. Goodbye and good luck._

She ignored the stabbing pains at her heart.

>

Miroku smiled at the birds flying in the sky. Magpies. The monk had always felt a certain bond with them. (Possibly because he was, by nature, a bit of a thief. Magpies are renown for that particular quality.)

_I've never seen so many! Seven!_

The magpies scattered as someone came running up behind him.

"Miroku!"

_Ah._

"My darling Sango! I am glad to be able to look upon your beautiful face once more."

Sango looked at the sky for help. How did he manage to be so charming and yet such a hentai?

"But now that I am healed," Miroku continued, ignoring Sango's lack of eye contact, "I feel it necessary to ask your feelings on something."

Sango did a double take. _What does he mean, healed? He wasn't there when Kagome asked… so, could he know?_

She decided not to press the issue.

"Do you truly love me?"

Sango gaped at the monk like a fish.

_W…what?_

"Because you said yes when I asked if you would bear my children, but I need to know if you love me."

"Oh… Miroku!" Sango flung herself on him, tears flying behind her. The monk pressed his arms around her back and for once didn't grope her.

_I think that I should take that as a yes. _He smiled.

>

Kagome was far from smiling. She sat by the river, staring into the clouds. She was kind of wishing that she could be one, actually.

_Clouds don't have troubles._

The problem was, clouds don't love either.

As Kagome put her hands over her heart, she felt the all too familiar bump of the Shikon no tama resting against her neck.

_Since Inuyasha has gone to hell, I might as well take the wish._

Now, what to wish for? The jewel would only be purified by something selfless. For most people, there is no such thing as a selfless wish. Of course, Kagome wasn't 'most people.'

_I… I wish…that everyone could be happy. That Miroku and Sango can get together, and Kouga won't be unhappy with Ayame. That Shippou can move on from his parents. And that Kikyo and Inuyasha are happy._

A little badly said maybe, but the spirit was there. The jewel's pink glow intensified, then slowly that glow dimmed and the stone changed to a clear colour, tinted with all the colours of the rainbow.

Thus ended the Shikon no tama and the battle that raged inside it.

>

Inuyasha could see Kagome quite clearly from where he was standing. Speaking with Kikyo had been tough, but what was through was through. And now… he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Kagome.

The miko in question must have heard his approach, because she turned sharply around and looked at him, question evident in her brown eyes. Around her neck, a sparkling jewel hung.

Inuyasha remembered something that Kikyo had once said:

"_The jewel. Pink. A mix of red, for the blood shed in the battle that formed it, and the blood given to try and claim a simple wish, and white, the colour of purity, both for Midoriko and the mikos that guard it."_

But what the jewel would change to, Inuyasha had had no clue. Until now.

"Kagome…" She had tried to hide the tears in her eyes; he could see that.

"Why aren't you with Kikyo?"

"I…"

Inuyasha struggled for words as he remembered their two recent meetings.

>

"_Inuyasha." The miko's was soft and the hanyou's golden eyes widened slightly. "I loved you and wanted to be yours."_

_Inuyasha remained silent._

"_But all things must end." Kikyo continued. "I am no long er able to stay in this world; you can. You must make your choice."_

_Inuyasha hesitated. "I have nothing left to live for, not now Kagome's gone."_

"_But love follows all paths. The path of our love has ended and we have gone our separate ways. Tales have been told of walked through death for love."_

_The silver haired boy looked at her. "Kikyo. It's true that I love Kagome. But I loved you too – and my oath…" He fell silent at the look on her face._

_The miko gave a twisted smile. "Oaths are made to be broken. But if you will not do that, then I release you from yours. Love… I do not feel it for you any longer. And I know that all you feel for me is pity._

"_Kagome is my reincarnation, and perhaps the better part of me. She still has a chance. I have none."_

"_A… a chance?"_

"_A young boy has recently been restored to life. Surely another three souls could be as well?"_

_Inuyasha was shocked. Why is she doing this? He thought. _

"_Who… and how…?"_

"_His name," replied the girl with dead eyes, "was Kohaku. And I think you know how. Your brother, with his sword the Tensaiga."_

_Inuyasha gasped. _

"_Give me your answer later… go now, you still have time. Their souls will remain on this earth until the new moon. You have until then."_

_>_

_I realise now. Kikyo knew that I was better off with Kagome and gave me a chance. So when I went back to her, she knew my answer. I only went back to say goodbye…_

"Inuyasha?" Kagome looked worriedly at the hanyou.

"I… she… I picked _you_, damn it!"

"You… picked me?"

"Unless you don't want me any more..."

Inuyasha had no time for words as a delighted Kagome kissed him square on the lips.

>

Much later that night, the gang sat together planning their futures.

"You'll have to ask your mum, Kagome," Sango was saying, "But I think that you and Inuyasha could manage the time difference easily."

"Yeah."

"Sango and Miroku…" Inuyasha started talking.

Kagome switched off. The day had been too much for her and she looked around smiling happily. The only think left to unravel was why she couldn't remember anything. Kohaku had seemed very confused at the thought of her having a fever.

Suddenly, she caught sight of seven dark shapes winging their way west. Seven magpies.

_Hmmm… Grandpa has a rhyme for magpies… what's seven again? Oh, yeah._

_Seven for a secret never to be told._

_Ah. I guess I'll never know what happened then._

_It doesn't really matter. As long as I'm with my friends. Nothing can hurt me._

_Nothing at all._

In the darkness, before she completely disintegrated, Kikyo smiled.

>

>

Whew! My first chaptered fic's finished! And I discovered that Kikyo's evil to portray. Evil.

Anyways, a big hug to those who reviewed!

CN.


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